


The Wolf's Assistant

by gasper



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Laywers, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Denial of Feelings, First Kiss, First Meetings, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia Has Feelings, Grumpy Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Lawyer Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Lawyer Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg, Lawyers, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:21:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27515254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gasper/pseuds/gasper
Summary: Geralt is a powerful criminal defense attorney and he is in desperate need of an assistant. At least, that's what Yennefer thinks. A strapping young man waltzes in and turns the interview on its head. Geralt is fine with having an extra helping hand, but he doesn't know if this newcomer is going to be a good fit.Rating for Chapter 1: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia & Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Jaskier" is a nickname. His real name is Julian Pankratz. He will be referred to as Julian. The nickname "Jaskier" may appear later on.  
> "Bellegarde" is in reference to a name Geralt would have chosen in the books.

"The final interview of the day is here, Mr. Bellegarde." The receptionist was smiling from ear-to-ear. Geralt Bellegarde had overheard her giggling from outside of his office. He wanted to roll his eyes, thoroughly done with the long day of interviews. But, he needed a new assistant. A few more minutes at the firm wouldn't kill him. 

"Show them in." Geralt smiled, not disingenuously, just tired. Before Alice, the receptionist could turn to pull in the next candidate, a man in a royal blue suit came sauntering in. Alice couldn't help but smile wider when the man passed her. He gave her a quick wink before Geralt silently dismissed the receptionist. Geralt hadn't seen her act like that since she had one too many martinis at the last office party. 

"Hello, Mr…." Geralt stood up, completely stretching his tall frame, and held out his large, calloused hand. His white hair went to his shoulders and was currently pulled back in a ponytail. He had a scar on his face that went from above his left eyebrow to halfway down his left cheek. His eyes were golden and tired from the day's affairs. The top button of his white dress shirt was undone and the sleeves were rolled up. His shirt was tucked in under a fairly expensive black leather belt with matching shoes and thin, grey pinstripes ran up and down his slacks. He had shaved that morning and it was clear from the shadows on his face that he often grew a beard. 

"Pankratz, Julian Pankratz. My friends call me 'Jaskier.'" The shorter man looked young (younger than Geralt's 45.) The royal blue suit was a bold choice and it was clear from Julian's personality that the suit was a deliberate choice. He had expertly styled short brown hair. His grey eyes were bright and they seemed to be smirking while his lips were still. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Pankratz. Please, have a seat.” Geralt forced himself to smile, not wanting to come off as uninterested. Julian’s hand was soft inside of Geralt’s but was in no way weak. The candidate might have been smaller than the employer, but it was clear that Julian could hold his own.

“The pleasure is all mine.” Julian smiled, showing perfect teeth. His voice was smooth and a little high while Geralt’s was deep and gravely.

The two sat down in their respective chairs, a large, wooden desk separating them. Julian placed a leather folio in front of Geralt that contained a well-done resume. There was a cover letter inlaid with what looked like gold. Every page was printed on thick, textured paper. Julian knew what he was doing. He dressed well, carried himself with an air of confidence, and knew how to impress. It was clear that Julian was quality. It was clear that he was actually over-qualified. The sharp-dressed man could be working towards opening his own firm, not applying for an assistant’s job. 

“Mr. Pankratz, I’ll be honest with you, I don’t understand why you’re here.” 

For the first time during the interview, Julian looked confused. He clearly didn’t expect that response.

“Apologies, Mr. Bellegarde, but what do you mean?” Julian sat up straight in his chair and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. Geralt put down the resume and locked eyes with Julian. 

“With your credentials and at your age, you could be one of the best lawyers in the state before you’re 35. Why would you settle to be some assistant to a man you could easily surpass?” Geralt was a genuinely humble man. He didn’t view all of his accomplishments objectively. He thought he was just another criminal defense attorney. 

“Surpass you?” Julian looked as if someone had smacked him across the face, “‘Bellegarde and Bellegarde’ is one of the best law firms in the entire country. You have won some of the most prolific cases of the past twenty years. Sure, I could go through law school, follow in your footsteps, have my own firm in the next decade. But I don’t want the glory and fame. I want to experience what makes you so great at what you do. Quite frankly, I don’t want the pressure. I don’t want all eyes on me. But I will happily help you get where you need to be. I can make a difference through you. We’re not all meant to be the star of the show, Mr. Bellegarde. I am perfectly content with just being a supporting actor.” Julian sat back in his chair, folding one leg over the other, his hands folded in his lap.

Geralt finally broke eye contact with Julian and looked down at the papers in his hands. It was laughable that Julian said he didn't want all eyes on himself, considering the flashy wardrobe and blinding personality. Geralt ran his tongue over the inside of his teeth. He could feel Julian’s eyes boring holes into his face. 

“I think you can do better.” Geralt placed the resume back into the leather folio and held it out for Julian to take. Julian smiled when he took the folio from Geralt’s hand. The candidate stood up suddenly, surprising Geralt. The lawyer stood up, not wanting to be the only one seated. He opened his mouth to speak, but Julian was a step ahead.

“So, when do I start?” Julian’s smile did not falter. His eyes were shining. Geralt almost felt intimidated.

“Julian, I don’t think you understand.” Geralt hesitated, not fully grasping what was going on, “I will be choosing someone else. But, if I can help your career in any way moving forward, do let me know. You’re set for greatness.” Geralt smiled, genuinely, and held out his hand for a farewell handshake.

“Wonderful,” Julian started, reaching out and grasping Geralt’s hand much harder than he had previously, “I’ll be here at 8 am sharp. Have a nice evening, Mr. Bellegarde.” Geralt’s grip relaxed and his face showed that he was dumbfounded. He was about to respond but Julian was already walking out of his office. Geralt heard Alice giggling before she popped into his office. His hand was still mid-air.

“Wonderful choice, Mr. Bellegarde! He seems just wonderful. Should I get the final paperwork done up for your new assistant?” Alice was positively glowing. Julian had a way with women, it seemed. Geralt’s hand finally dropped down to his side. He was unable to respond. He sat down, leaned back in his chair, and turned so he was looking out his back window and facing away from Alice.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’ I’ll notify the others that their services will not be necessary. You should get home, sir. You’ve had a long day and could definitely use the sleep!” Alice’s chipper voice rang in his ears before she left and closed his office door behind her. 

It was around 4:30 pm when Julian’s interview ended. It was an hour later that Geralt yelled out, a hand on his shoulder suddenly pulling him back to reality.

“Jesus Christ, Geralt. What the hell are you doing?” 

Geralt looked up to see his wife, Yennefer, staring down at him. Her long black hair was down, cascading halfway down her back. Her violet eyes looked him over, the concern written clearly on her face. 

“What time is it?” Geralt rubbed his eyes. They burned as if he hadn’t blinked for an extended period of time.

“It’s 5:30 pm. It’s time to go home. I thought you would have been gone after your last interview. Is everything alright?” Yennefer wore a black blouse with ruffles around the neck and arms. The blouse was tucked into a black pencil skirt. She wore black, fishnet stockings with 4inch black stilettos, taking her from half a foot shorter to the same height as her male counterpart. She was a modern-day goth and Geralt loved every part of her. 

“I’m fine, I’m fine. I just spaced out, maybe dozed off. I really do need some proper sleep.” Geralt smiled, taking Yennefer’s hand that was on his shoulder and kissing the back of it. He took a moment to look over her long, black nails. “I have no idea how you type with those talons. I do love that shade of black. Is it new?” Geralt smirked and looked up at his partner. She rolled her eyes and chuckled, pulling her hand away.

“You get used to it. If you didn’t bite your nails into little nubs every day you would learn. Come on, let’s get out of here. Momma needs a drink.” 

\-----

“Oh my God, she did not!” Julian exclaimed under his breath, sitting on the edge of Alice’s desk while the two gossiped.

“Oh, but she did! It was positively scandalous.” Alice couldn’t stop giggling while she spoke. They both held paper coffee cups in their hands. They were chatting away like a couple of BFFs at a high school reunion.

“Good morning.” Geralt’s voice made Alice jump out of her chair and place her coffee down on her desk, using her now free hands to pat down the front of her blouse.

“M-Mr. Bellegarde, good morning, sir! I put a summary of your more important phone messages on your desk. Is there anything I can get you?” Alice looked as if she had been caught smoking in the school’s bathroom. Julian was as cool as a cucumber. He barely turned his head to look at his new boss. He sipped at his coffee, a smile on his face.

“Thank you, Alice. Now that I have a new assistant, I think your job just got a whole lot easier.” Geralt smiled, silently reassuring her that she wasn’t in trouble for chatting with the new kid, “I could use some of that coffee that seems to be going around.” Geralt looked directly at Julian for the first time that morning. The assistant’s suit was emerald instead of the royal blue of the day before. Geralt wondered if he had a suit for every color of the rainbow.

“I would never forget about the boss.” Julian hopped off of Alice’s desk and reached over to a nearby table to grab a larger cup than what the pair had been holding. He turned on his heel and came within a foot of Geralt, the closest they had ever been, with both cups in his hands.

“I have a whole bag of sugars and creamers. But, I assume you take it black.” Julian held the larger cup up to Geralt’s chest. Geralt looked down on the newcomer, not exactly sure how he felt. Even Yennefer rarely got that close to him.

“Let’s get to work.” Geralt took the cup, took one last glance at Julian’s smile, and walked into his office. Alice had an expression of ‘someone is in trouble.’ Julian continued looking smug as if he had never been reprimanded in his entire life.

“It’s going to be another long day. We have a big court date next week and it’s all about preparation right now. We have a few other lawyers coming in. The entire firm is working overtime. I hope you understand that you’re salary and will likely be working very long hours during crunches like these.” Geralt was taking off his jacket and putting it over the back of his chair while he spoke. He didn’t look up at Julian while he continued to talk and he started looking through the messages Alice left on his desk.

“Will Mrs. Bellegarde be one of the lawyers joining us?” Geralt had sat down when Julian spoke. Geralt finally looked up at the brightly-dressed man. Julian was sitting on the arm of the chair in front of Geralt’s desk, sipping at his coffee, his free arm folded over his chest.

“It is likely, yes. It’s an important case.” Geralt took a second before answering, confused about what interest Julian had in his boss’s wife.

“She seems like a nice lady. It will be nice to meet her officially. I have yet to have the pleasure.” Julian placed his coffee on Geralt’s desk and grabbed the phone messages once Geralt had finished looking over them, “This is formatted terribly. No offense to that peach of a woman, Alice. It’s just so difficult to read. The messages should also be listed in order of importance. I know she said these were all important messages, but I can tell you just from the few I’ve read that you shouldn’t be wasting your time reading half of this.” Julian sat down, finally, and pulled a black pen from his pocket, and started marking up the papers in his hands while he spoke.

Geralt was quiet while Julian worked. There were plenty of things about Julian that were sure to drive Geralt through the fucking roof, from his bright suits to his outspoken attitude. Geralt rubbed at his face, a thin layer of stubble forming since he didn’t shave that morning. He was sure that there was something else he wanted to tell Julian to do but by the time Geralt remembered what it was, Julian was already walking out the door, furiously flipping through the pages of messages.

\-----

“Everything is finally going to be resolved, one way or another, at the hearing on Tuesday,” Yennefer started, standing at the end of a long, metal, and wood boardroom table. Geralt sat to one side with Julian next to him. Yennefer’s assistant, Diandre, was sitting opposite Geralt on Yennefer’s other side. Diandre had a sepia, reddish-brown complexion which was in stark contrast to Yennefer’s pale, almost colorless skin tone. They were like yin and yang. Diandre even had blonde hair (from either dyeing it or using some sort of a wig. A woman never tells.) which stood out from her dark skin while Yen’s black hair stood from her’s. 

“We will finally have all the witnesses together. They will testify and we can resolve this entire ordeal for our client, Mr. Morgan. It took the state months and months of pushing off this last piece of the puzzle because they couldn’t find their own witness,” Yen stopped to roll her eyes. A few people at the table chuckled. “But now we get to figure out what compelling evidence this witness has to offer that would send Mr. Morgan away for life. Geralt and I will be at the table and will question the witness accordingly. Julian, you will be sitting behind us next to Diandre and will be taking down as many details as you can. The rest of you, if you do not have any other cases that are conflicting with this date then we expect you to be there to observe. We make money for the payroll by winning cases and we are not taking any chances.” Yen looked at each person in the room individually. Everyone nodded, silently saying that they understood. 

“Everyone likes getting paid. We’re gonna pull this one out, no problem,” Julian spoke up, looking at Yennefer like he was eyeing up a juicy steak. Only Geralt's eyes moved as he looked over at Julian in disbelief.

“Right.” Yen looked at Julian along with the rest of the room. Either Julian was aware he spoke up in an impolite fashion and he didn’t care, or he was completely oblivious and only had eyes for the boss’ wife, who also happened to be Julian's boss.

“Alright, thank you, Yen.” Geralt stood up, breaking Julian’s train of thought, “I think we are all thoroughly motivated for next week. If anyone has any questions or input regarding the case, please do not hesitate to come to Yen or I. If we’re not available, please inform Julian or Diandre. Thank you.” 

Yen was still standing in the same spot, staring at Julian. The other lawyers and assistants left as quickly as they could. Diandre tried to make it look like something was extremely interesting on her laptop. Julian was leisurely getting his things together to go back to his desk.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mrs. Bellegarde. Your reputation precedes you.” Julian stood and held out his hand for Yen to take. Geralt was quickly made aware that the boy didn’t know how to read a room. He and Yen exchanged a look before she forced herself to smile and gingerly took Julian’s hand in hers.

“The pleasure is all mine. I hope your work is adequate. Otherwise, you’ll have two Bellegardes to deal with. Come, Diandre.” Yen’s smile immediately vanished when their handshake broke. Diandre quickly grabbed her laptop and both her and Yen’s papers before following Mrs. Bellegarde quickly out of the boardroom.

“I can see why you married her,” Julian said offhandedly. He was smiling, but it wasn’t a happy expression. Almost as if Julian felt sick but was trying to push through it. Geralt was fully prepared to punch his new assistant in the face. Thankfully for Julian, he was out of the room before Geralt had his thoughts in order.

\-----

“Who the fuck is this Julian kid?” Yen spat the words out while she removed her earrings in their master bathroom.

“He’s over-qualified and over-confident. I just don’t know if his attitude is worth it as long as his work is good,” Geralt said before putting toothpaste on his toothbrush and starting to brush his teeth.

“Did you see the way he looked at me? Like he was sizing me up or something. I didn’t know if he wanted to fuck me or beat me.” Yen started brushing her hair, quite violently in fact.

“Eh, you’re into that kinda thing anyway.” Geralt smirked after spitting out the excess paste in his mouth. Yen rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm. Geralt whined and acted as if he was fatally wounded.

“He’s not really my type.” Yen stuck her tongue out at her husband before leaving the bathroom. Geralt brushed his hair and walked out into their bedroom. Yen was already snuggled up under the duvet. 

“Just keep him in check, alright? Doing good work is wonderful, but it’s not worth disrespect and tarnishing our good name.” Yen and Geralt looked at each other for a long moment. Finally, Yen curled up and put her back to Geralt. He turned off the lights and let sleeping wives lie.

\-----

The next Tuesday finally came around. Even though it seemed like the law office of Bellegarde and Bellegarde was rushing to get everything together for their important trial date, it felt like the day would never come. Geralt was relieved that it would finally be over. He was confident in their case. He just had to tear the witness apart, with the help of his unforgiving (in a good way) wife. It was all coming to a head.

Geralt had on a gunmetal pinstripe suit with a black shirt and black shoes, no tie. Yennefer wore all black, as she does, with accents of gunmetal in her jewelry and shoes. Julian, in his own powder-blue suit and silver shoes and tie, commented on how the Bellegardes had coordinated when the two men exited Geralt’s car in the parking garage and noticed Yen and Diandre a few spaces away. Geralt ignored him.

Julian rode with Geralt and Diandre rode with Yen since the parking garage at the courthouse was always a zoo and it was easier to look for two parking spots rather than four.

Geralt and Yennefer exchanged pleasantries with the state’s prosecutors and Julian and Diandre chatted about this and that. Diandre was wearing a grey, knit dress with shimmery silver high heels. She clearly got the monochrome memo that Julian didn’t receive or chose to ignore. Diandre was tall, to begin with, a few inches taller than Julian. With her heels, she stood a few inches above Yen when even Yen was wearing high heels. Those two women were not to be messed with.

“All rise for the honorable Judge Keith Attenborough.” The courtroom stood in unison as a graying white man in a black robe came into the room and stood behind his stand.

“You may be seated.” The judge sat down followed by everyone else. Dennis Morgan had his hands cuffed in front of him. He was wearing a bespoke black suit. Poor people were not usually able to hire the Bellegardes. 

The trial started as usual. The defense said they had nothing new to offer and they were waiting for the opportunity to finally cross-examine the prosecution’s star witness. The spotlight turned to the state. It was as if time had slowed down. The prosecutor hesitated before he began explaining why the witness would not be able to appear and that the state needed yet another extension. 

Geralt went blind. The rage that filled him was consuming everything, including his eyesight. His mouth hung open slightly, his eyes glazed over. He sat in that court, month after month, listening to that shill give excuse after excuse about why the witness couldn't be present and how he needed more time. If Geralt wasn’t as mentally stable, he would have certainly stoop up and thrown a punch in the face of that sad excuse for a lawyer. Geralt was frozen. 

Yennefer took over any responses from the defense. Geralt sat with his elbows on the table in front of him with his hands clasped together. His teeth were grinding together, his jaw clenched.

Geralt didn’t know if it had been 20 minutes or two hours before the court was being ordered to stand while the judge exited the courtroom. Yen spoke to Geralt, something about another date being set for the witness to appear. Their client was removed by two officers. Geralt sat, staring at the wall opposite of him, silent, seething. The courtroom slowly emptied. 

“Sir.” 

Geralt jerked when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head and found Julian standing next to him. Julian pulled his hand back, his face full of concern. For once, the assistant seemed genuine.

“How long have I been sitting here?” Geralt stood and flattened out his suit. He and Julian were the only ones left.

“About 25 minutes. One of the officers came in and said we had to leave. Another case needs the room.” Julian was picking up Geralt’s things while he spoke. 

“Yes, of course. Let’s head back to the office.” Geralt bumped into Julian on his way out of the courtroom. The two made their way to the parking garage in silence. It was clear that Julian did know how to read a situation. Sometimes he just didn’t seem to care. It could have been that Julian now had newfound respect (or fear) of Geralt after his silent rage in court. Julian was right to keep quiet. But it would go against his character to keep that up for too long.

“Too bad we missed Mrs. Bellegarde and Diandre. Would have loved to chat after we were done here. We could have gotten lunch or something," Julian said when the two of them walked into the parking garage and saw that Yen’s car was gone. It didn’t take too much to get Geralt’s blood boiling all over again.

“What the fuck has you so obsessed with my wife, Pankratz?” Geralt stopped abruptly, surprising Julian and making him drop the briefcases in his hands. Julian turned to face Geralt. Geralt stepped into Julian, forcing the assistant back against the trunk of Geralt’s car. Geralt looked down at Julian. He was seething.

“M-Mr. Bellegarde, I don’t know what you mean,” Julian stammered. It was the first time Geralt had seen him look anything less than composed. Geralt slammed his hand down on the back of his car, almost leaving a dent in the metal. Julian jumped, his body starting to shake. “Honestly, sir! I am not obsessed with Mrs. Bellegarde. That’s not what’s going on!” Geralt’s teeth were grinding together. They were chest to chest. Julian’s neck was bent at a weird angle to look Geralt in the eye.

“First you’re staring at her, then you’re making comments. Now you want to follow her around like a lost puppy. What the fuck is your problem?” Geralt spoke through clenched teeth. Julian could smell the coffee his boss was drinking that morning. The trembling man opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say. His explanation was not great and he wasn’t looking to get beaten to a pulp by his boss outside of the local courthouse. 

“You better speak up if you want to keep this job or get any job in the future,” Geralt growled. His bright, golden eyes were piercing. He had shaved for court, his jawline sharp enough to cut steel. Geralt smelled expensive. His cologne had probably cost more than what Julian made in a week. Something had to be said or things would end badly.

“I’m not interested in women, Geralt,” Julian finally spoke. Geralt paused, an expression of bewilderment covering his face. He took one step back and Julian visibly relaxed. Geralt was stunned by the sudden omission. It was clear that Geralt wasn’t going to respond. The two of them stood in silence.

A million questions flooded Geralt’s mind. He was no longer concerned about Julian trying to steal Yennefer away. Not that he would have a snowball’s chance in Hell. Then came the confusion regarding Julian’s sexuality. Geralt only assumed Julian was interested in women due to how he interacted with them, seemingly flirting at every opportunity. It was none of Geralt’s business, whatever his assistant did in his personal time. Julian’s omission, however, did not answer why he had his eyes on the boss’s wife.

“Don’t be so eager in regards to Mrs. Bellegarde,” Geralt finally spoke. He didn’t know how long they were standing there, staring at each other. He was relieved that no one was around to hear their conversation.

“Of course, sir. I’m sorry for overstepping. I hope we can put this behind us.” Julian was quick with his response, happy to have the matter done and over with. He bent down to pick up the briefcases on the ground. 

Geralt silently unlocked his car while removing his keys from his pocket. Julian gingerly placed the cases into the backseat before taking his place on the passenger side. Geralt stood at the back of his car for a few more seconds, his mind going a mile a minute. After the outburst and demand for answers, Geralt was only left with more questions.

The boss got into the driver’s side, focusing his gaze out the front of his windshield. He put on his seatbelt and noticed that Julian didn’t move to secure himself.

“I don’t want a ticket.” Geralt finally turned to look at his assistant. Julian met his eyes, flushed, and immediately turned to look straight ahead. He silently complied, clicking the metal of the seatbelt into the plastic fastener.

“The last thing I need is a fucking ticket.” Geralt mumbled, putting the car in reverse to make his way out of the garage. They sat in silence for the entire ride back to the office. Geralt couldn’t make himself turn on the radio. Julian felt if he moved that the entire world would implode. Geralt’s ears were ringing from the lack of noise by the time he entered his firm. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's an awkward encounter between two pals? Probably nothing. Between an employer and his employee?  
> Geralt thinks he's upset with Julian and we all know that boy doesn't make things easy.
> 
> Rating for Chapter 2: Teen And Up Audiences

“Geralt.”

“Geralt.”

“ _ Geralt! _ ”

Geralt stood back, his chest heaving. Sweat was pouring from his forehead all the way down to his overpriced sneakers. His knuckles were red and sore. His fingernails were digging into the palm of his hands.

“You’re going to tear down my bag there, killer,” Alex, Geralt’s personal trainer, said with a concerned look. “Something you’d like to talk about?” Alex grabbed the punching bag to steady it, legitimately worried it was going to detach from the ceiling.

“Fucking work,” grumbled Geralt. He bent himself back, hearing his spine crack. His t-shirt and basketball shorts clung to his body, not leaving much of anything to the imagination. There weren’t many people at the gym at that time of the morning (5 am to be exact), so Geralt wasn’t worried about wandering eyes. People who worked out so early could barely focus enough to stay awake, let alone worry about somebody else. 

“That case I’ve been telling you about. Well, I should say  _ alluding _ to, since I can’t really tell you anything about it. That fuck on the other side of the aisle pushed for another extension. We’re getting close to a year that my client is sitting in jail with his thumb up his ass. He’s starting to think I’m incompetent. Losing him would be a big hit to the firm.” Geralt crouched down and hung his head. Alex crouched down next to him.

“I know you can’t give me the details. But, I know you Geralt. I’ve known you for years. Whatever is happening I know you can overcome it. Any man that comes to this gym three times a week, sometimes more, at this terrible time has to be one determined bastard.” Alex and Geralt both chuckled. Geralt nodded his head, looking up to give Alex a proper smile.

“Have you ever considered a job in motivational speaking?” Geralt stood back up, his knees cracking.

“What do you mean?” Alex stood as well, the smile on his face a near-permanent fixture, “Haven’t I been a motivator for the past five years? Not to say you were some fat slob when you first walked in here, but you were definitely a 40-year-old without any sort of work out regiment. Now, look at you! You could bench me without breaking a sweat. I’m sure that wife of yours has appreciated the improvement as well.” Alex winked and nudged Geralt’s side with his elbow. Geralt rolled his eyes.

“I appreciate what you’ve done for me, Alex. Hopefully, your powerful words will help me when I finally beat the shit out of that attorney.” It was now Geralt’s turn to wink. He slapped Alex on the shoulder and started walking to the locker room.

“Not what I want to be a motivator for!” Alex yelled after his client. Geralt was already passing through the door.

Gold’s Fitness was a gym that had been around for decades. They had a handful of trainers, a boxing ring, plenty of treadmills and bikes along with weights of all shapes and sizes. It was pricey, to say the least. Something that Geralt was content with. The pricier it was, the fewer people he had to interact with when he came in. The locker rooms were wonderful. Members had their own permanent lockers with their own locks. They were twice the size of what one would find in a high school. Each shower was spacious and contained its own small room so that patrons had complete privacy. One would still have to change in front of others in the main area unless they wanted their previously dry clothing to become wet. But, if a guy isn’t changing in front of a bunch of other guys, can one really call it a gym?

The locker room was abandoned except for Geralt while he stripped his dirty clothes and kept them on the floor next to his locker. He’d shove them into his duffel bag once he changed into his clean clothes. Grabbing his towels and various toiletries, Geralt made his way to the showers.

“Fuck!” Geralt jumped, dropping various bottles onto the tile of the locker room floor.

“Oh, shit, sorry, man.” A tan, skinny, sweating boy slammed right into Geralt after he exited the shower.

“Watch where you’re fucking going.” Geralt held on to the towel around his waist before bending down and grabbing his fallen toiletries. The dunce had the brains to crouch down and attempted to help.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ve got it.” Geralt groaned when he stood back up. His past and his age were catching up to him.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t hear…” The boy stopped mid-sentence. Geralt walked the few feet to deposit the bottles in his arms into his locker. He turned his head to the side, finally getting a good look at the boy.

“ _ Julian? _ ”

“Mr. Bellegarde!” If Julian’s face wasn’t so red from working out, he would have gone pale. The usually composed assistant looked mortified and downright ragged in his tank top and sweatpants. Without all the padding of those fancy suits Mr. Pankratz liked to wear, it was clear that Julian might have been even smaller than what Geralt had guessed.

“What are you doing here?” Geralt asked, his tone incredulous. He was then made acutely aware of the fact that he was in just a towel, his entire upper body exposed. Suddenly, changing in front of another person seemed like a monumental task.

“Well, I, uh, I’m sort of new to the area and I figured I could use some structure, and working out is never a bad thing, ya know?” Julian was smiling, but it didn’t seem sincere. It was obvious that he was trying to cover up how nervous he was.

“And  _ this _ is the gym that you chose? Don’t they have a really long waiting list? Can you…” Geralt paused, not wanting to seem like an asshole, “Can you even afford this place?” Geralt’s voice was at a whisper. He signed the paychecks, so he was well aware of the funds that Julian was working with.

“I can afford to take care of myself, Mr. Bellegarde,” Jaskier said defensively. 

“Sorry, I’m just surprised, is all.” Geralt frowned at himself. He turned and checked the time on his phone that was sitting in his locker.

“I won’t keep you, sir. I promise I’ll be at work with my usual punctuality.” Julian looked Geralt over while he spoke. There were a few scars on Geralt’s fuzzy chest that caught the assistant’s eye. What was most surprising was the full back-piece that was printed across Geralt’s skin. It was an intricate drawing of a wolf’s head that was surrounded by five of what looked like some sort of ancient runes. The tattoo went from shoulder-to-shoulder and from the nape of his neck to his tailbone. It was magnificent. Julian wanted to say something about it.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like for my employee not to see me completely naked.” ‘ _ I would have preferred not being naked in front of you at all,’  _ Geralt thought, feeling the warmth that was starting to leave his body as he dried off, and started to creep back into his face. He wasn’t ashamed of his appearance or generally shy. But, something about that little shit Pankratz made Geralt feel… different. 

“Right, yes, of course. I will get my things and take my shower and make sure that it is long enough for you to have left so that we don’t have to continue this awkward conversation. Cool? Cool.” Julian tore his eyes away from his boss’s body and went over to open a locker that had a backpack set in front of it. The assistant wasted no time in grabbing what he needed to get clean. Geralt couldn’t look away from the boy. Julian didn’t even consider stripping in the main room and practically ran into the shower room.

“For fuck’s sake,” Geralt whispered to himself. Once the door to the showers was closed, Geralt let the towel around his waist fall. Looking at Julian sweaty, flustered, and all sorts of messed up had a small effect on Geralt. He clenched his jaw and took a few deep breaths. Once his composure had returned, he expedited the dressing process, not even combing his hair before grabbing his items needed for the day and speed walking out of the gym.

‘ _ Am I going to have to switch gyms because of that little shit?’ _

\-----

When Geralt arrived at the firm, he didn’t see Julian. He felt relief, but just for a moment. The boss had given the assistant plenty of time to come in and get his morning started properly before Geralt came in to order him around. 

“Look who decided to show up to work today,” Yennefer said from behind Geralt’s desk. She was lounging in his leather chair that was much too big for her. Julian turned in his own seat across from Yen, facing Geralt for the first time since the gym. The assistant’s suit was gold. His hair didn’t look as sculpted as it usually did. That reminded Geralt to run his fingers through his own long hair. It had air-dried and he never combed it. He was sure he looked homeless from the neck up.

“I’m sorry, I must have lost track of time. I hope I’m not interrupting anything important.” Geralt avoided Julian’s eyes and walked past the boy to his own desk, placing his briefcase next to Yen’s laptop.

“You’re not interrupting anything important because we’ve been waiting for you to show up so we could actually  _ discuss _ things that are important.” Yen stood up and grabbed her laptop, vacating Geralt’s seat. He slowly pulled off his jacket, placing it on the back of his chair, his eyes not leaving his upset wife. 

“Let’s not get hostile in front of employees, sweetheart,” Geralt mumbled. Then he happened to glance at the time on Yen’s laptop before sitting down. He froze, sat in his chair, staring straight ahead, straight past Julian. It was nearing 10 o’clock. Geralt had been driving around for  _ two hours _ . It should take him fifteen minutes to get from the gym to the firm. If he decided to get his own coffee and a snack, it would maybe take 30 minutes. Geralt wondered if he would have enough gas in his car to get home. Where was he driving? How did he not realize?

“We were all in a fantastic mood when the workday started. It’s the waiting around, the worrying, that’s what irritates.” Yen rolled her eyes and clicked her black nails against her keyboard. “Would you like to hear the good news from this morning or would you prefer to wait until after lunch? Maybe after dinner this evening?” Geralt continued to face Julian and proceeded to turn just his eyes to glare at Yen.

Julian was silent. That was a surprise to everyone. He was writing in a leather folio that had a notepad inside. The assistant was either trying to get over the awkward morning encounter or he was smart enough not to add to Yen’s wrath. It could have been a little of both.

“I would love to know about the news, Yennefer,” Geralt spoke through a clenched jaw. 

“Judge Attenborough has given the prosecution exactly one week from this morning to provide their witness to the court for cross-examination. If they don’t show up,” Yen paused to grin at Geralt and Julian, “all charges that were brought against the defendant based on that witness’s testimony will be thrown out.” Geralt was silent, shocked. Julian was grinning, no longer looking like he was trying to hide inside of himself.

“That means…” 

“That means that in one week Mr. Morgan will be released on time-served and we don’t have to deal with this shitty case for a moment longer!” Yen interrupted Geralt and couldn’t help but raise her voice with excitement.

Geralt jumped to his feet, feeling a small twinge in his lower back that he decided to ignore, and pulled the laptop from Yen’s hand, and tossed it on his desk before giving her a bear hug. He lifted her just a bit, giving her the opportunity to kick her legs up. 

“I don’t want to be  _ that guy _ ,” Julian began, “but isn’t there a chance they’ll provide the witness and Mr. Morgan will be sentenced to…” Julian trailed off, looking down at the notes in his lap, “Mr. Morgan could be sentenced to life?” Julian looked up to see Geralt and Yen staring at him, their arms still wrapped around each other. Julian felt like he was about to get reamed. 

Then they started laughing. Big, raucous, downright inappropriately loud laughter. Julian was shocked at the sudden outburst but relieved that he wasn’t going to be ripped to shreds by his bosses’ sharp tongues.

“Julian, sweetheart,” Yen slid from Geralt’s embrace and then sat down on the corner of his desk, facing Julian, “we’ve been waiting for this witness for almost an entire calendar year. If this magical person finally decides to grace us with their presence within the next week, I will strip naked and strut through the entire courthouse.” Julian’s mouth was agape at Yen’s words. He looked over at Geralt who was still standing, expecting Yennefer’s husband to be upset at the thought of his wife parading around for all to see.

Geralt couldn’t stop smirking. If they were both so sure, Julian had nothing to be worried about. No reason to rain on any parades.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Pankratz, we’re not flying by the seat of our pants here. You’ve only been here for a couple of weeks. We are well aware that there is a small possibility that this witness will show up. But the odds are not in the state’s favor, they’re in ours.” Geralt sat down at his desk, handing Yen’s laptop back to her.

“Does this mean that we will be looking for another large case to accept? I can start going through your requests, filtering through with the highest bidder in mind.” Julian crossed one leg over the other, his suit glinting in the sunshine that was coming through the full-wall window behind Geralt’s desk. 

Yen turned and raised a brow at Geralt. Geralt shrugged.

“It wouldn’t hurt to keep an eye out, Julian. As long as you want to keep that salary you need for your extracurriculars.” Geralt couldn’t stop the upward curve at the side of his mouth. He reached over to power on his desktop while the monitor sat at the edge of his desk. Without looking directly at him, Geralt could see the flushed look on Julian’s face. Yen gave Geralt a look but decided to let it go.

“I will start looking immediately, sir. I will bring any favorable prospects to your attention.” Julian snapped his folio shut and stood. He nodded his head at both Geralt and Yennefer before leaving the room without another word.

Yen was puzzled. She turned to Geralt, still sat on his desk, and cocked her head at him.

“Did something happen that I missed?”

“No, not that I can recall.”

\-----

The workday went on. Geralt spent the better part of the day trying to understand how he lost so much time in the morning. When he wasn’t thinking about the lost time, he was thinking about the locker room at Gold’s Fitness and how Julian’s eyes burned into his skin and Geralt’s eyes burned into Julian’s. Geralt didn’t understand how he couldn’t move on from the situation. They bumped into each other at the gym, so what? Julian saw a partly naked Geralt, so what? Julian isn’t interested in women, so what? There was no reason to feel uncomfortable. So… What?

Yen was out with Diandre, grabbing some dinner and seeing a movie. Geralt was left alone in his home. On his couch, his feet on the coffee table, his finger in a glass of whiskey, and his eyes staring into a black television screen. It was silent apart from the clinking of ice cubes in his alcohol. 

His shoes were off and his shirt sleeves were rolled up with the buttons completely undone, exposing a thin tank top underneath. The scar that almost went through his left eye was throbbing. That happened sometimes when Geralt was feeling particularly pained or stressed. His hair was down around his face. His golden eyes were clear and showed that he was a thousand miles away.

Julian was a pain in the neck. Over-qualified, over-confident. That stupid smirk that occupied his face most days made Geralt’s blood boil. The kid was flashy, outgoing leaning towards obnoxious. Yen found it kind of funny. Big, grumpy, sullen Geralt being followed around by some sort of shiny elf that never shuts up. 

“If he wasn’t so smart, he wouldn’t have lasted a day,” Geralt remembered telling Yen before. She had smiled that knowing smile and rolled her eyes at him.

“I’m sure there are plenty of other smart assistants out there.” 

Geralt didn’t remember what he said back. Maybe he didn’t say anything at all. He didn’t think much of it. Then they ran into each other far too early in the morning, one sweating and one half-naked.

The boss was pulled back into reality when the sound of his whiskey glass crashed against his living room floor.

“Fuck,” he grumbled, scrambling to get the glass, liquid, and ice off of the floor. Yen loved a tidy home and Geralt hated screwing up.

Geralt hissed while he washed his hands in the kitchen sink, noticing a small cut in the palm of his hand, “What a shitty place for a cut.” He dried his hands and bandaged himself up. The stinging in his hand took away from the throbbing over his left eye.

In bed that evening, Geralt couldn’t stop touching his cut hand. It burned, it was constant, and he did not stop. The cut was a reminder. It was a reminder of what happens when Geralt loses himself. 

\-----

“Good morning Alice, Diandre.” Geralt smiled at the two women who were chatting at the receptionist’s desk. He was surprised that he didn’t see Julian with the pair of them, “Where’s Julian?” 

“Oh, he’s already in your office. He’s been pouring over the legal council requests,” Alice responded, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed per usual.

“Thank you.” Geralt nodded and made his way into his office. He almost knocked, not wanting to disturb Julian while he was hard at work. 

Geralt pushed the door open, not making a sound. Julian was in the guest seat, opposite of Geralt’s chair, and had a couple of papers laid out on the desk.

Julian was engrossed with his notepad that laid over his lap, so much so that he didn’t so much as lift his head when Geralt walked past and sat down in his own chair. 

Geralt stared at his assistant, admiring the concentration the boy possessed. It would surprise some people to hear, considering Geralt’s success, that the white-haired man could get distracted very easily. Yennefer was perfect in this way, always keeping Geralt on task. Maybe Julian would be able to give Yen a break.

“Julian,” Geralt finally spoke, a concerned expression on his face, “Is that not the same suit you were wearing yesterday?” Julian glanced up, catching Geralt’s eye.

“Oh, my suit, I didn’t even think about that.” Julian looked down at himself like he was surprised that he was a corporeal being. “I haven’t been home, that’s why. If it upsets you, sir, I can go right now and switch into a fresh suit. I’ll be back in no time, I promise. Maybe I can get you some breakfast or coffee while I’m out?” Julian was standing up while he spoke, setting his notepad on the desk between the two men.

“Wait, you haven’t been  _ home _ ?” Geralt was shocked.

“No, no, there wasn’t any point in it. It was easier to stay here and work through the night. I didn’t want to mess up the order of the requests and I wanted to make sure that I had something to offer you this morning. Did you have a specific color of a suit in mind? I have one in every color, as I’m sure you’ve guessed.” Julian looked as if he was vibrating while he spoke. Who knew how much caffeine he had ingested and when it was going to wear off if it hadn’t already. His eyes were bloodshot.

“Julian, go home and don’t come back until tomorrow. Get some sleep. Eat something that doesn’t come out of a vending machine.” Geralt was astounded that Julian worked through the night. Going through the requests wasn’t something that was extremely important. It was certainly not something that had to be done within 24 hours. But Julian was committed. Over-qualified. Over-confident. Overworked.

“What if you need me? I don’t want to inconvenience you by leaving.” Julian looked worried, maybe even scared. 

“I’m fine, Julian. I have a whole firm behind me. I will survive without you for the next day like I survived before you came along. It’s alright, really,” Geralt spoke like he was trying to reassure a child.

“O-Okay, but promise you’ll call if you want me to come back, alright? I’ll just take these and see if I can narrow them down any further.” Julian started grabbing the papers on the desk. Geralt put his hands over Julian’s, wincing at the cut in his palm.

“Just go home, Julian. Leave this here and you can explain it all to me tomorrow, alright?” Geralt didn’t move his hands. Julian didn’t try to move his either. They locked eyes and then quickly pulled back into their own personal space.

“Is your hand alright?” Julian remarked, nodded at Geralt’s bandage.

“Yes, it’s fine. Go home, Pankratz.” Geralt looked away, rubbing his bandaged hand. Geralt didn’t look back in front of his desk until his office door closed and he knew Julian was gone. He glanced at the requests that were on his desk. They looked like they were scattered in a random heap, but Geralt knew there was a method to the madness. He decided not to touch the papers at all, leaving everything just as Julian left them.

\-----

Singing could be heard throughout the shower rooms inside of Gold’s Fitness. The walls were thin enough that Geralt had to stop himself from screaming to get the man to shut up. Geralt clenched his jaw, scrubbed his hair and body, and rinsed himself as quickly as he could so that he could escape the noise. The singing wasn’t bad, per se, but Geralt wasn’t very musically inclined. He was more of a podcast than a music type of guy. 

Geralt opened the door to the rest of the locker room and heard the man’s voice amplify. ‘ _ Great. Now he’s expanding into the rest of the locker room.’  _ Geralt wasn’t going to be “that guy” and decided he would just ignore whoever it was and continue on with his day.

Well, easier said than done.

Geralt stopped in his tracks. Twenty feet away was the toned, slim, tan,  _ very _ naked backside of the singer. He was still going at it. The song was being tuned out of Geralt’s mind while he tried to discreetly admire the young man. The middle-aged man knew that his towel around his waist wasn’t doing him any favors and that things would not end well if he kept on staring. He swallowed as best he could, his mouth completely dry, and put his head down before quietly walking over to his locker.

Not being able to stop himself, Geralt turned his head just enough to see if he could catch a glimpse of the singer’s front.

“Oh my God!”

“Holy shit!”

“Holy fuck, oh man.”

“Oh God, oh God, oh God.”

“I’m so sorry. This never happened. We’ll never talk about it.” Geralt was quick with his words. Even though he knew he should tear his eyes away, he watched Julian long enough to see his entire body turn pink. Geralt had his hips turned so that Julian would only see his backside. The boss was definitely not trying to have  _ that _ conversation.

“It’s okay, seriously. We’re just two guys, right? Normal stuff. Totally not weird at all.” Julian was chuckling. The poor boy was clearly nervous, embarrassed, the whole nine yards. Geralt hoped that his feelings weren’t as obvious.

“Yes, absolutely. We’ve gotta stop meeting like this.” Geralt forced himself to laugh. It seemed to work in lightening the mood. Geralt hadn’t made any attempt to dry himself off and start dressing, while Julian had covered himself with some white boxer-briefs. Even with Julian being covered, Geralt couldn’t stop himself from stealing glances. The kid was certainly packing for someone of his size. Geralt almost felt self-conscious. 

“Haha, yeah, you’re not wrong. What would HR think?” Julian joked, clearly relaxing.

“Oh boy, don’t tell them. Not gonna lose my license over some singer-boy.” Geralt laughed genuinely, giving Julian a wink.

“ _ Some singer-boy, _ ” Julian mocked, “I’ll have you know, I was in all-state choir all four years at my first college,” Julian said with a self-assured  _ hmph. _ Geralt smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

“Not a big music guy, I guess.” Geralt dropped his towel. There was no point in pussy-footing around. It was a locker room. Naked men got dressed together all the time.

“Right, not a music guy,” Julian trailed off, making sure he only stared at Geralt when Geralt wouldn’t catch him.

“I’m not saying you’re a bad singer. It’s just not what I would spend my time listening to.” Geralt pulled on his own underwear and finally turned to face Julian, who had just been admiring the tattoo on Geralt’s back. Amongst other things.

“I appreciate the almost-compliment, Mr. Bellegarde,” Julian said, his face red. He couldn’t hide the quick glance he made down the front of Geralt’s body. Geralt noticed and he was not about to point it out. He was well aware of what he had. He was  _ also _ aware of its current state. ‘ _ Thank God it’s not any worse,’  _ Geralt thought, quietly imagining sports or puppies or the National Geographic. It was working, partly. 

“Have to keep my employees motivated.” Geralt smiled. The two men faced their lockers and silently got dressed. Geralt, since he didn’t feel like he was in a rush, combed his hair in front of the mirror mounted in his locker. He scratched at his face. A beard was starting. He didn’t have the energy to shave. Perhaps he could shave before bed that evening.

“I like it.” Julian stood next to Geralt, dressed in a purple suit. It was a rich, deep grape color. Geralt turned his head, his hand still on his face.

“What was that?”

“You look good with a beard. I’m sure it just gets better with length.” Julian crossed all business and personal boundaries, moving one of his soft hands to press against the side of Geralt’s face. “I knew it would be soft,” he whispered, mostly to himself, but the two were so close that Geralt heard him clear as day.

“You’re quite the know-it-all.” Geralt didn’t rush to move Julian’s hand. Julian had to look up to meet Geralt’s eyes. The boy could smell the mint toothpaste coming from Geralt’s mouth. Julian smelled sweet. Every part of him looked soft. Most parts of Geralt were fairly rough. It took everything inside of the employer to not reach out and touch his employee.

“I’ll be seeing you at the office, Mr. Pankratz.” Geralt moved back. Julian’s hand dropped to his side. Geralt winced when he closed his locker door, forgetting around the cut on his hand. It didn’t need a bandage any longer, but it was still red and painful.

“What happened?” Julian nodded at Geralt’s bad hand.

“I was drifting off, dropped a glass. These things happen.” Geralt, of course, didn’t include the fact that he was drifting off while thinking about his assistant. But it wasn’t anything sexual or romantic or even very friendly. Just an odd situation. It was an odd situation that happened a second time. It was easier the second time. That worried Geralt.

“I hope it feels better soon.” Julian grabbed his bag from the ground and gave Geralt one of his signature, shining smiles, “I’ll see you soon, sir. Would you like the usual from the cafe?” Julian walked with Geralt while they left the facility. Their two cars were the only ones in the lot. The employees parked in the back. They stood next to Geralt’s car for a moment.

“Let’s shake things up. Get me something fancy. One of those really creamy iced coffees that are about 5000 calories a pop. I wanna live on the edge today.” Geralt laughed and Julian kept grinning.

“Have to keep up those calories for that muscle mass. Maybe I’ll join you.” Julian’s smirk faltered for just a second, showing that he was unhappy in regards to his physique.

“We’re different people, Julian. Besides, you look great. You don’t have to be some tall, thick, built man to be considered attractive. I do understand how you feel. I’m not a big fan of my looks.” Geralt sighed but maintained his happy demeanor. 

“You look great, too,” Julian said. Then they looked at each other. The look wasn’t awkward or weird. It didn’t feel bad or uncomfortable. 

“I’ll see you at the office, Julian. Bring some muffins, too. I like the chocolate chip ones.” Geralt unlocked his car and waited for Julian to walk away and get into his own car before they both exited the lot.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things aren't going well for Geralt's toughest case yet. Julian might be helpful in regards to alleviating some stress.

And so, the day went on, morning turned into evening, and the evening turned back into the morning. Geralt ended up not shaving. If Yennefer cared one way or another, she didn’t speak up. 

For the remainder of the week, Geralt and Julian seemed to be able to avoid each other in the locker room of Gold’s Fitness. Geralt didn’t know if it was all by chance or if Julian was purposefully avoiding another awkward encounter. 

Was it awkward? Was it something that shouldn’t happen again? Geralt oftentimes found himself thinking of Julian’s hand against his cheek.

Julian continued to be an eager assistant, ready and willing to come in early and stay after most employees went home. Geralt tried to remind his assistant that the world was not ending and finding a new client as soon as possible was not necessary. Even so, Julian provided a list of five requests that he believed would be best for the firm and, more importantly, Mr. Bellegarde.

“I have them organized by their yearly income,” Julian started. “I chose these five specifically because I believe that they have fairly straightforward cases. Nothing too gruesome or scandalous. I know you’ve dealt with fraud and exploitation, nothing new.” Julian was in his element. Geralt could see the excitement on the boy’s face while he laid out the five requests individually. Even though Geralt didn’t believe picking a new client was important at the time, he was fully engrossed with the information Julian was feeding him. A new case wasn’t important, but keeping up his employee’s morale was.

“Your efforts are very much appreciated, Julian. Thank you for your hard work.” Geralt combined the papers on his desk into one stack and moved them to the side. Julian was standing in front of Geralt, his fingers gripping his folio and his eyes shining.

“Have you heard anything new from the prosecution?” Julian said while he rocked from his heels to his toes and back.

“No, not a thing. That’s good news. It means they probably haven’t been able to find their witness and they won’t be able to produce them tomorrow.” Geralt grinned from ear to ear. The Morgan case was such a shitshow and if Mr. Morgan wasn’t paying so much, Geralt would have happily kicked him to the curb a year ago.

“Good, that’s very good. Would you like me to contact anyone that I’ve shown you?” It was clear that Julian was still apprehensive about how the Morgan case would turn out. It was always better to be safe than sorry.

Geralt waved his hand at Julian dismissively, shaking his head, “Let’s not get carried away, Julian. I’ll want to have completed Mr. Morgan’s paperwork and have all payment fulfilled before we consider someone new. Just crossing our t’s and dotting our i’s.” Geralt’s expression turned from a smirk to a genuine smile. He didn’t know whether Julian hadn’t experienced such an intense case before or if the boy always became anxious near the end.

“Yes, sir, of course. I’ll keep their information on my desk and I’ll be ready to contact them when you give the green light.” Julian held his folio against his chest. He and Geralt exchanged polite nods before Julian went back to his own office that was right next door to Geralt’s and half the size. 

Geralt leaned over and glanced at the case information at the top of Julian’s stack. It was an embezzlement case. There wasn’t a lot of proof. Well, there wasn’t a lot of reputable proof. Geralt scoffed, knowing that he could easily get the case thrown out. His eyes scanned the rest of the page and noticed the defendant’s yearly income.

“I wonder how much of that money was earned legally.”

\-----

Julian was wearing a grey suit. Geralt didn’t question him when he showed up to the firm that morning or when they both entered Geralt’s car to make their way to the courthouse. The assistant understood how important that day was, that case. Geralt would usually appreciate Julian being more muted when it came to being out in public. But the attorney couldn’t help but think that Julian dressed in that way because he was sure things weren’t going to go well and he didn’t want to be the only one sticking out in neon apparel when things went south.

Geralt, Julian, Yennefer, and Diandre met in the parking garage before walking into the courthouse together. Geralt and Yen were laughing at something while Julian and Diandre feverishly spoke about the finale of a reality television show that was coming up that very night.

The last sound that was heard when the group entered their designated room was Geralt’s laughter. Whatever Yen had said was not funny enough to keep Geralt from becoming silent immediately once he looked around the inside of the court.

There was the bailiff, waiting to bring in Mr. Morgan once Geralt and Yen had settled. The prosecution had their attorneys and aides. There was the court reporter, waiting patiently to do his duty. Geralt recognized all of them, he had seen them too many times as far as he was concerned. The recognition stopped, however, when his eyes locked with a young girl. She could not have been more than 14 years old. With bright green eyes, brown hair, and a flowing blue dress, she looked like the perfect image for innocence.

This young girl was sitting next to the prosecution at their table. 

This young girl was the star witness for the state.

“Oh no,” Yen whispered. She reached for Geralt’s arm and squeezed. Julian and Diandre glanced at each other before focusing on the Bellegardes. The prosecutor was smirking at the four of them, watching them like they were a free buffet. 

Julian didn’t know how long they were standing there in the back of the courtroom, barely far enough in for the doors to close behind them. Then Geralt put one foot in front of the other and, while avoiding the eyes of those across the aisle, made his way to their table and set out his materials. 

After a few minutes of getting themselves organized, Julian and Diandre took their places behind the Bellegardes and Geralt motioned for the bailiff to bring out their client.

Mr. Morgan looked smug when he was walked out from the holding area. His suit was as sharp as ever while his hair looked like it had been expertly styled. The man was ready to walk free and he was certain his time had come.

Geralt visibly flinched when Mr. Morgan glanced over to the other side and noticed a brand new face. The defendant was certain it wasn’t “Bring Your Daughter to Work” day. That only left one plausible option.

“Rodney, just sit down, we’ll work this out,” Geralt said under his breath, standing up to greet his client.

“You’re on thin fucking ice, Geralt. I’m not feeling very charitable. This better work out, for your sake.” Mr. Morgan sounded like a snake the way he was hissing. Julian could feel anger building in his chest. Seeing Mr. Bellegarde being spoken to that way was not something that the young assistant enjoyed.

The attorneys would usually speak with each other before the judge made his way into the courtroom. One could have heard a pin drop that morning.

“All rise for the Honorable Judge Attenborough,” the bailiff commanded in his booming voice. Everyone stood and the judge made his way in looking tired and resigned. His eyes were focused on the floor in front of him while he walked. When he got to his chair, he looked up, prepared to tell the courtroom they could sit, and saw a newcomer instead. He was suddenly wide awake.

“You may be seated,” the judge said after staring at the girl a moment longer than was socially acceptable. 

The judge took a few minutes to gather himself while the two parties mumbled amongst themselves. 

Court proceeded. The girl’s name was Christina. She was fully prepared to testify against Mr. Morgan in regards to her father’s murder. The young girl had seen the whole thing and even had the mind to film near the end of the crime. The defendant was somehow pale and bright red with fury simultaneously. 

Geralt and Yen were silently holding hands while the girl politely answered a few questions from the judge. Julian found himself holding on to Diandre’s arm. She didn’t seem to mind.

“Well,” the judge started after clearing his throat, “it is at this time that I would set a trial date so a jury can be brought in to try this case fairly. That being said,” the judge paused to look at Christina. Her eyes were wet from answering questions about her father’s death. “I assume there will be a plea deal offered and accepted before this case ever sees a jury trial.” Mr. Morgan looked like he was about to explode. The prosecutor couldn’t wipe that shit-eating grin off of his face. Yen was sure she was going to faint. Geralt’s jaw was set, but he did not otherwise betray the fact that he was screaming in his mind.

“But, just for the sake of covering all of our bases, we will set an appointment to start picking a jury in two weeks’ time.” Judge Attenborough stood up and held his gavel in his hand, weighing the wood, “I’m sure I will be seeing council in my chambers very soon. God speed, Mr. Morgan.” And with that, everyone stood and the gavel cracked, and Mr. Morgan lost his mind.

“I had that little bitch taken care of,” Mr. Morgan spat, actually getting saliva on the side of Geralt’s face, “She shouldn’t be here! We had this, Geralt. You assured me that if the witness was gone for this long that they wouldn’t even show up!” Mr. Morgan was yelling. Officers were brought in, trying their best to handle a very unhappy, flailing middle-aged man.

“What I’ve seen today is unprecedented, Mr. Morgan. We will discuss any plea deals with the prosecution. This will not go to trial, not while we have anything to say about it.” Yennefer stepped in, always bold in the face of criminals. Geralt knew that if he opened his mouth that he might have said something uncouth.

“I’m not going to take a fucking handout from those idiots on the other side of the room. If you bring me a plea, you’ll be fired on the spot.” Mr. Morgan jerked forward, briefly getting out of the hold of the officers behind him. His face was just inches from Yennefer’s. Geralt was prepared to step in, but she held her hand up, holding her own. “If you’re such great lawyers, you’ll get me off scot-free. You’ll be able to sue the city once this is all over and ultimately keep me as a client for any future indiscretions if they come.” Mr. Morgan was smirking like a proper villain. 

“We will do what is best for you, Mr. Morgan.” Yen’s tone was even, her face showing nothing. “And if we bring you a deal, it’s because we know for certain that it is better than anything that will come out of a trial.” Yen and Mr. Morgan stared into each other’s eyes. If everyone wasn’t so pissed, one might have thought they were lovers. 

“You better hope they offer you a pile of shit in the form of a deal so you’ll be forced to go to trial. Rodney Morgan doesn’t take anyone’s pity.” Mr. Morgan was then quickly ushered back into a holding cell before being transferred to his jail cell.

“I’ll call you later with a time and a place.” The prosecutor patted Geralt on the shoulder while their team walked out, Christina standing in the center of their group. Geralt’s only response was a long sigh once his group was the only one left in the room.

“Come on, Diandre, let’s go to the liquor store.” 

Diandre quickly went over to Yen and gathered their things. Geralt stood to the side, leaning back against the wood railing that separated the front of the courtroom and the seating for the audience. Julian saw how white Geralt’s knuckles were. 

“Do you guys want anything?” Diandre turned to look at Julian and Geralt.

“No, we’ll see you back at the firm,” Geralt said without turning to look at the pair. Julian and Diandre shared a look before the ladies left. 

Julian felt a very serious case of deja vu. Standing awkwardly, waiting for his angry boss to make a move. Rather than sitting in silence for twenty minutes, Geralt was quick with getting his things together. Julian shuffled around quietly, not speaking unless spoken to. 

The pair left the courtroom. Yen and Diandre were long gone, they must have been desperate for those drinks. Geralt and Julian were walking at a casual pace. They weren’t in any rush to leave. The door to the parking garage was in sight when Geralt quickly turned and went into the men’s bathroom. Julian was confused, but continued to follow obediently.

Once in the bathroom, Geralt pushed open every stall door, checking to make sure no one else was inside. 

“Lock the door,” Geralt demanded, not even turning to look at Julian. The assistant was confused and a little frightened but he still turned the lock on the bathroom door.

Once Geralt heard that click of the lock he pulled his right hand back and punched the tiled wall in front of him. Julian gasped and swiftly moved to grab Geralt’s arm.

“Let go of me, Pankratz!” Geralt flung his arm, pushing Julian into one of the stalls. Thankfully the boy caught himself before falling into a toilet.

Geralt was pulling back for a second shot at the innocent bathroom wall. Julian noticed that one of Geralt’s knuckles had blood already trickling down his hand.

“Geralt!” Julian jumped at his angry boss. The boy couldn’t say he was shocked when Geralt’s hand moved to wrap around Julian’s throat rather than crush against the cold tile again.

It was Julian against the wall instead of Geralt’s bloody hand. The way the man’s hand squeezed Julian allowed the boy to breathe but he was quickly getting lightheaded. 

“Sir… Sir, please, I’m just trying to help.” Julian’s bottom lip trembled while he spoke. Geralt’s entire body was shaking, “You know Mrs. Bellegarde would be upset, Mr. Bellegarde.” Julian didn’t feel afraid for his life, he was afraid that Geralt would get in trouble. The assistant hated seeing his boss upset.

“Why do you always talk about my fucking wife, Pankratz?” Geralt’s eyes were filling like he was about to cry. He wasn’t sad, wasn’t feeling depressed. The rage that flowed through his body was starting to flow out of him in any way it could find.

“I’m jealous of her,” Julian blurted out. It was not the time to be coy and avoid the truth. Geralt could, realistically, kill Julian with his bare hands. Julian saw Geralt’s face freeze, devoid of emotion. He didn’t look angry or unhappy, maybe a little surprised.

“Why would you be jealous of her? She’s a powerful woman, I fully understand that, but you have no reason to harbor ill will against her.” Geralt was dumbfounded. Julian would have rolled his eyes if he was looking to get choked to death.

“I’m not jealous of her because she can pull off a sick pinstripe skirt.” Julian couldn’t help but make a snarky remark. Instead of Geralt getting angry at the boy’s tone, his confusion just got worse.

“Say what you fucking mean, Pankratz, my hand is killing me!” Their faces were just inches away from each other. Geralt was sweating slightly, his forehead shining from the fluorescent light. Julian was on his tip-toes, Geralt had him lifted a few inches off of the ground. They could smell each other, sweet and musky, sweat and expensive cologne. Julian had his hands around Geralt’s wrist but soon moved them to hold on to each of Geralt’s shoulders.

Julian dug his fingers into Geralt’s suit and pulled the man as close as he could. The boy pressed his lips against Geralt’s. Geralt didn’t jerk away or crack Julian’s neck. The kiss, just two sets of lips pressed against each other, only lasted a couple of seconds.

“Geralt,” Julian whispered, his eyes closed when their lips separated. Geralt looked at the boy’s face, so smooth and perfect. After Geralt hadn’t spoken for a minute, Julian opened his eyes. They stared at each other. This time the look wasn’t awkward or angry or confused. 

Geralt’s hand loosened, letting Julian fall if he wanted, but the boy stayed on his tip-toes. The hand around Julian’s neck was no longer malicious, just possessive. Then they were pressed together again, Geralt’s tongue pressing between Julian’s lips. Julian was surprised but eagerly accepted. They groaned and moaned into each other’s mouths. Julian’s hands went up to Geralt’s hair, pulled off the hair tie, and quickly knotted the man’s hair around his thin fingers.

The feeling of Geralt’s beard pressing against Julian’s face. The taste of coffee and mints passing between them. The situation was becoming volatile and Geralt was halfway to completely losing his mind up until there was an angry knock at the bathroom door.

“Who locks the bathroom? Is it out of order? Can someone open this, please?” a man was pleading from outside of the pair’s private room.

They broke their kiss prematurely. Julian was prepared for everything: ‘Don’t tell anyone. If you tell anyone, I’ll kill you. I don’t want some queer on my staff. I’ll ruin your entire career. This was a mistake. You better quit before I fire you and make your life a living hell.’

Geralt was quiet instead. His expression was serious. Julian felt like Geralt could see his soul right through his eyes. 

“Let’s go. The last thing we need is a crowd to form.” Geralt grabbed his hair tie from Julian’s hand, turning to the nearest mirror to hastily fix his hair. 

Julian stood next to his boss. The boy’s face contorted when he got a closer look at himself. There was a drop of blood on his collar. It wouldn’t be noticeable to anyone who wasn’t looking for it. Julian flushed at the reminder of what just transpired. 

“Are you ready? Get our things.” Geralt gestured impatiently to their bags and briefcases on the floor. Julian nodded, quickly gathering their possessions. He could tell Geralt was staring at him, but Julian couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact.

“Finally! What were you guys planning on doing, moving in?” a very disgruntled, sweaty man in a two-sizes-too-big suit barrelled past the pair to relieve himself.

Neither of them spoke during the ride back to the office. Geralt was very difficult to read and Julian was not going to try and guess what was going on in his boss’s head. The assistant did notice that Geralt was gripping the steering wheel so hard that his previously inflamed knuckles were going white. Julian also couldn’t help but notice Geralt casually readjusting himself. The man’s face remained stoic. Julian couldn’t get the feeling of Geralt’s beard scratching his soft skin out of his mind.

\-----

When the men finally arrived back at the firm, Geralt walked directly into his office and slammed the door behind him. Julian flinched at the gesture. Alice gave Julian a look.

“If he comes out looking for his things,” Julian said, placing Geralt’s briefcase on Alice’s desk. She forced herself to smile and nodded at Julian. Julian nodded back, not able to cover his pained expression.

Laughter could be heard from down the hall where Yennefer’s office could be found. Julian was curious and would rather be surrounded by laughter than whatever dread he was currently feeling. He heard the muffled conversation and giggling when he knocked on the office door.

“Come in!” Yen yelled out, her voice was bright and cheery. Julian poked his head in. Diandre had her back to him, turning slightly to see who had come to spoil the fun. She smiled at Julian and turned back to her boss. Yen looked like all she could do was smile. She had her perfectly manicured hand wrapped around the neck of a vodka bottle. It looked to be halfway gone. Julian couldn’t help but notice that Diandre had a can of soda in her hand.

“Julian, my boy! How is the big grump?” Yen had her legs up on the desk, getting dangerously close to a sexual harassment complaint to HR. Her shoes were off, exposing matching painted toenails under her pantyhose.

“Mr. Bellegarde is, understandably, upset with what happened earlier.” ‘ _ I don’t know if that’s because of the case or because of my tongue being in his mouth.’  _ Julian flushed at the thought. Yen was unaware of anything that wasn’t the bottle in front of her, but Diandre gave him a look.

“Oh, don’t worry about him, Julian. He gets in these  _ moods  _ sometimes. You just need to let him blow off some steam. Maybe he’ll finally break some equipment at Gold’s tomorrow.” Yen chuckled and brought her legs down, putting the clear bottle onto her desk, “Just do some busy work for the rest of the day and I’m sure this will have all blown over by tomorrow. I’ll have a chat with him tonight.” Yen winked at Julian. Despite her words, Julian was not relieved. He smiled, not his most genuine expression, and silently closed the office door behind him. Julian completely forgot that he and Geralt had the same gym schedule. ‘ _ Fuck.’ _

\----

“I heard that you’ve been frightening the new boy,” Yennefer said from her place on the couch, not even turning her face from the television to acknowledge Geralt when he walked in the front door.

“I heard you were so drunk that Diandre had to drive you home and will also have to pick you up since I’ll be at the gym in the morning.” Geralt couldn’t help but snap back at Yen. The last thing he needed was a “talk” from her. Especially while she was still tipsy at 7 pm.

“What made you so late? I’ve been here, alone, for almost two hours.” Yen finally turned her head, giving him an accusatory look. 

“I had some forms that needed to be filled out.” ‘ _ And I needed to make sure that I waited long enough for Julian to leave so I didn’t have to see him when leaving the office.’ _ Geralt swallowed with great difficulty. Yen was too inebriated to catch that something deeper was going on.

“Be nice to him, Geralt. Sure, he’s a little shit, but you’re a big shit.” Yen paused and then started laughing at her own words. Geralt sighed and rubbed his temples. 

“That better be water in that big glass on the coffee table.” Geralt gave Yen a pointed look. She frowned like a scolded child. Getting up in a huff, she grabbed her glass and could be heard pouring it into the kitchen sink. He waited and then went over to her when she came back into the living room. Smelling the cup, he looked into Yen’s eyes. They were hazy. He couldn’t help but smile at his beautiful wife, even if she was a bit of a messy drunk. His lips briefly touched her forehead. They didn’t interact for the rest of the night.

\-----

“Okay, stop, stop!” Alex raised his voice. It took him a couple more tries before Geralt snapped up and gave the trainer his attention. 

“Geralt, you’re throwing punches like you’re a fucking toddler. Are you high? Drunk? Wife suck your soul out of your dick? What’s happening?” Alex pulled off the gloves he wore to spar with Geralt in the boxing ring. Geralt looked down, ashamed of himself. 

“Things aren’t going too great at work. I’m sorry, man. I’m wasting your time.” Geralt pulled off his gloves and threw them into the corner of the ring. 

“Nah, man, don’t say that. You’re never wasting my time. I just don’t want you moping around, wasting your own time.” Alex waited for Geralt to make eye contact and then smiled at him. Geralt couldn’t help but smile back.

“You can always talk things out with me, alright, Geralt? I’m no therapist but I’m always here for you. You can always take out your frustrations with me.” Alex smirked and put up his bare fists, acting like he was going to throw a punch. Geralt laughed and got into a stance, throwing a couple of “punches” back at Alex. The two shook hands before Geralt left for the locker room.

Geralt went through his usual routine: stripped, showered, got dry, and dressed for the workday ahead. But, something was different. Geralt found himself turning at every noise, expecting Julian to be standing around naked or belting out some song Geralt had never heard of. He looked at Julian’s locker. The door was closed, the lock was on. Had Julian come in earlier? That would be ridiculous. Julian would never sleep if he came in any earlier.

Geralt combed his hair, tied it back, and took one last look around the locker room before leaving for work. 

When Geralt walked into the firm he saw Julian and Alice sitting together, having a nice little chat. Julian didn’t look any different, certainly not tired from waking up in the middle of the night to go to the gym.

“Excuse me, guys,” Geralt started, halting the conversation immediately, “Julian, can I see you in my office, please?” Geralt was trying to keep his voice soft and low, trying his best to seem reassuring. He didn’t want his own confusing, frustrating mood to affect his employees. 

“Yes, Sir, of course. Let me just go get my folio and I will be right there.” Julian didn’t miss a beat, standing up and practically running to his own desk to grab his things. Geralt didn’t even get a chance to tell him it wouldn’t be necessary. 

Alice was about to say something, probably exchange pleasantries, but Julian was back in the blink of an eye. Geralt gave Alice an awkward smile before walking to his office and holding the door for Julian.

“Alright, so, I know I gave you that list of potential clients. But, with everything that happened yesterday, I thought I would dig a little further and I have a couple more candidates.” Julian wasn’t even sitting down. He was hunched over Geralt’s desk, laying out papers like he was trying to put together a large puzzle. 

Julian continued speaking and Geralt didn’t interrupt. He placed his briefcase next to his desk. Taking off his suit jacket, he watched Julian closely. Geralt only heard every other word, then every third word, then every tenth word. Finally, he wasn’t understanding anything that left Julian’s mouth.

There was a long pause. They were both standing: Geralt on his side of the desk and Julian on the opposite side, his battle plans laid out between them. 

“Where were you this morning?” Geralt broke the silence. Julian immediately looked away, quick to defend himself. 

“Oh, I just overslept, so I couldn’t make it to the gym. I’m sure you appreciated my absence,” Julian mumbled the last sentence, fiddling with the papers that were in front of him. 

“You’re a terrible liar, Pankratz.” Geralt was trying to come off in a light-hearted, joking way. But that seemed to further fuel Julian’s anxiety.

“I’m sorry sir, I just wanted to give you your space,” Julian looked back up, meeting Geralt’s eyes. “I didn’t want to…” he trailed off, seemingly changing his mind about what he was going to say, “I didn’t want to poke the wolf.” It took Geralt a second to understand. Then he smirked, remembering the large wolf tattoo on his back. It usually wasn’t something he forgot about. He seemed to be forgetting a lot when he was around Julian.

“I don’t want things to be weird, awkward, unbearable, whatever word you would like to use. I know you were having a tough time yesterday and people do a lot of wild things when their adrenaline is pumping. I’ll forget it ever happened, I swear. Please, I really want to keep this job. I’ll go to another gym. I’ll drive my own car to the courthouse. Fuck, I don’t know. I’m sorry, I fucked up, I fucked this all up.” It was clear that Julian was having a panic attack. Geralt’s eyes went wide at Julian’s words. The boy’s breathing was erratic, he was starting to sweat, his hands were shaking the papers in his hands.

Geralt moved around to Julian’s side, pulled the papers out of his hands and held his small, soft hands in his own. Julian continued to breathe with difficulty. He looked up at Geralt, their hands clasped together between them.

They stood in silence for a minute or two or ten, however long it took for Julian to calm down. 

“Why do you think any of this is your fault?” Geralt asked when he believed that Julian was able to form and speak rational thoughts.

“Because we did what we did and then you avoided me, you were clearly upset, you didn’t want anything to do with me. I’m sorry, it will never happen again.” Julian pulled his hands from Geralt’s. Geralt frowned, his hands going dead at his side.

“Did I… Did I force you to do something you didn’t want to do?” Geralt felt hurt, but he would hate himself more if he knew that he had assaulted someone. His past was spotty in regards to power dynamics and the last thing Geralt wanted was to do something that was against someone’s will.

“What?” Julian’s eyes went wide. Then he started laughing. It wasn’t a little giggle, it was a hearty, from-the-stomach laugh. Geralt was dumbfounded, not knowing how to respond.

“You think that you forced me? You think I wasn’t a willing participant? You’re a smart man, Mr. Bellegarde, don’t act the fool.” Julian rolled his eyes. “It won’t happen again, I promise. To use your own words, I won’t be forcing you to do something you don’t want to do.” He started pulling all the papers he laid out and placed them into a stack. 

Geralt had no idea what to say. Julian was gathering his things and heading to the door. Without saying a word, Geralt quickly got to the door right when Julian did. Geralt grabbed Julian’s hand that was on the handle and used his other hand to lock the door. Julian turned to look up at Geralt with his mouth open, prepared to ask Geralt what he thought he was doing.

Geralt leaned in, pressing Julian back against the door, and pushed their lips together. Julian dropped the papers in his hand, scattering them all over the floor. After a kiss that could have lasted 60 seconds or 60 minutes, Geralt forced himself to pull back and look into Julian’s eyes. He looked so soft, cute, and absolutely ready for whatever would happen next. Geralt spoke one last time, giving himself a chance to stop before things went too far.

“I hope this isn’t a mistake.” Geralt didn’t wait for a response. 


End file.
